Transformed Visions

Alyssa

5 years ago

Lament of the Images - Alfredo Jaar
On display at the Tate Modern

Lament of the Images – Alfredo JaarOn display at the Tate Modern

Tate Modern

Artist Alfredo Jaar believes that society has been inundated by images and has resulted in a disengagement with the subject of the images. In short, we just don’t get the message anymore. As a consequence of this overproduction of visual icons, we are blind, unable to connect emotionally with images. Furthermore, the images we see are so controlled by the media and by politics that we don’t see the truth anyways.

The as the suspended table rises, the light escapes until we are bombarded and blinded by the light. As the table lowers, light gives way to darkness representing media and political censorship.

I liked this piece because it made me think about my personal information overload–I try to do and consume so much in the name of multitasking and trying new things that I neither see the big picture nor get under the skin of anything. I always joke that I thrive in mediocrity but the truth is that I do often quit or give up at that moment before real success or true failure. Jack-of-all-trades, master of none, I suppose.